F 
899 

541)6 





WASHINGTON 



THE vSOUND STATE AND ITS CHIEF CITY 



m 




EATTIiE 



ISSUED BY 






^\lQ (^l^amber of (^ommerc? 



JUriE, 1890. 




Glass ___Faa£i__ 




Chamber of CoMMERCii Buieding. 



A WONDERFUL CITY, 



LKADING AIJ, OTIIlvRS IN WASHINGTON, QRKGON, MONTANA, 

Idaho and British Columbia : 



SEATTLE, 



Its Past History, Recent Progress and 
Present Advanced Position. 



By J. W. J)()D(;E, 



vSkcrktary of the Chamber of Commerce. 
1890 



Seattle. 
Lownian & Hanford Stationery and Printing Company. 

iSgo. 






Seattle Chamber of Commerce 



1890 



OFFICERS. 




President - - - . - 


JOHN LEARY 


Vice-President - . . . . 


.' E. 0. GRAVES 


Second Vice-President 


THOS. W. PROSCH 


Treasurer ----- 


- E. F. WITTIER 


Secretary ----- 


J. W. DODGE 


TRUSTEES. 


• 


PERCY W. ROCHESTER 


B. F. SHAUBUT 


C. H, KITTINGER 


HERMAN CHAPIN 


A. HOLMAN 


U. R. NIESZ 


A. P. MITTEN 


W. E. BAILEY 


G. DAVIES 


JACOB FURTH 


G. H, HEILBRON 





^ 

N 
-^. 






,P R E F A C E. 

• This pamphlet is issued by tlie Seattle Cliamber of Commerce 
lor the purpose of giving briefly, autlieiitic information as to the. 
eliinate, resources and advantages of that portion of the State of 
Washington adjacent to Paget Sound, and especially of Seattle, the 
metrojiolis of the State ; conveying to home-seekers and to capital- 
ists desiring profitable investments a correct idea of what will be 
found here in the way of natural resources, climate, transportation 
facilities, commerce, trade and social advantau'es. 




MT. RAIN11;R, IKUM JvAKl'; WASHINCtTOX. 



THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 




C,qAS]IINGTON was ci-eato(I a TeiTitory Mairli 2, 

^^ 18-")3, and was admitted to statehood Novend)er 

^m. ISSl). It lies between the 46tli and 49th i)aTallels of 

noi'lh latitude and the llTtli and I'ioth ineridians of 

P longitude west from CJreeinvie]!. It li'as an area of 

a ()J),994 square miles and an estimated })oj)ulation of 

:M(),000. 

The State of Waslnngton is greater in area tlian any 
State east of the Mississi[)})i river, and is greater than all six New- 
England States comljined, or Pennsylvarna, New Jersey, Delaware 
and Maryland together. It is not only greater in area, but also in 
resourees. The growth of the Commonwealth has been comparatively 
slow until of late years. This has been due to remoteness from the 
centers of trade and poi)ulation and to lack of railroad facilities. 

The following table, showing population and wealth, will s})eak 
for itself: 



Year. 



Population. 



r86o 

1870 

1875 

1880 

1885 

1889 

1890 (E.stimated)- 



Wealtii. 



11,594 


$ 4,394,735 


23.955 


10,642,863 


44,842 


14,569,156 


75,116 


23,^13,693 


130,465 


5o,/84,437 


240,000 


125,058,879 


350,000' 


155,000,000 



Let the reader imagine a further continuance of this growth at 
the same ratio of increase and the year 1900 will find 1,200,000 
people in the State, owning })roperty valued for taxable purposes at 
$900,000,000. 

Tlie first American settlement on Puget Sound w^as made in 
Octol)er, 1.S45, at New Market, now Turn water, by Col. M. T. Sim- 
mons and others. Prior to this the Hudson Bay and Northwestern 
Fur Companies had established trading posts at different points and 



THE SOUND STATE. 



had iridaced one party of farmers from the Red River valley of the 
nortli to settle at Nisqually, in November, 1841. There were also 
early missionary settlements at Salem, in 1<S;34 ; A^^alla Walla, 1835 ; 
and Spokane, in 1838. 

The State of Washington is divided hy the Cascade range of 
monntains, extending through it north and south, into two distinct 
regions. That portion to the east of the mountains and known as 
Eastern Washington contains about 45,000 square miles. 

The winters in this district are longer and colder and the sum- 
mers shorter and warmer than in Western Washington, where the 
climate is equable and mild. Eastern Washington consists chiefly 
of plateau or table lands, for the most part sparsely timbered. The 
soil is fertile and produces excellent and abundant crops of wheat, 
oats, barley, hay, vegetables and fruits. Tlie average yield of wheat 
in Washington as per Government reports is larger than any other 
State in the Union, being 23.5 bushels per acre. 

Western Washington has an area of 25,000 square miles, and 
while possessing agricultural resources as great as Eastern AVashing- 
ton, is entirely different, owing to the difference in soil and climate. 
But little wheat is raised west of the Cascade range, not because it 
cannot Ije grown, for it must be Ijorne in mind that wheat raised in 
Tlnu'ston county was awarded tlie premium over all competitors at 
the Centennial Exliibition held in Plnladelphia in 1870. 

Western Washington is covered with a dense growth of im- 
mense timber, consisting cliiefly of Douglas (or red) fir, wliite cedar, 
hendock, spruce, wliite pine, balsam (or white) fir, yew, maple, ash 
and alder, Douglas fir predominating; its timber is of the best 
quality, said by experts to be superior to any other fir tree in tlie 
world. It is especially adapted to ship, bridge and car building; 
in fact, for all building purposes it has a world-wide reputation, l)e- 
ing heavy, strong and firm. It has been proven by experimental 
test that this timber is stronger than the oak of the Eastern States. 
The trees are of immense proportions, specimens over 250 feet in 
lieiglit and upwards of eight feet in diameter being not uncommon, 
while the average is estimated at 160 feet in height and four feet in 
diameter. There was recently cut at the Port Blakely Mill (a Seattle 
company) a stick of fir timber 150 feet long, three feet S(|uare at 
each end. 

AVhite cedar is next in abundance and size as well as com- 
mercial importance. Its wood is soft and light, splits with ease and 
ivgularity, and is .especially valuable for shingles, finishing work 
and furniture. The immense quantity and fine quality of the tim- 
l)er, coupled with the ready means of direct water communication 
with the markets of the world from Puget Sound, first attracted set- 
tlement in Western Washington, and the lumber industy lias held 



THE SOUND STATE. 



tlu' suprc'iiuK-y to tlio ])r(>scMit time. By reason of the })rolits in tliis 
line of business I'arniinu- lias l)een neii'lected. A\"liilo there are now 
many fine farms, tlie area of tilled land as eompared with that yet 
unck^ired and uncultivated is very small. The natural fertility of 
the soil, the present heavy and steadily growin<i- demand for farm 
produce, will, so soon as ^-onerally known, attract farmers. Es[)e- 
cially to those accpiainttMl with garden farming, dairying, fruit and 
])oultry raising, is there hei'e a most profitable iield. An authority 
on poultry recently state<l to the writer, when speaking of the 
protits in that business, that the jirice of ranch eggs in this section 
averaged 30 cents per dozen during the past year. At the same 
time this is the best poultry producing eounti'v west of the Mis- 
souri river, California and the dry countries east of the Sierras and 
west of the jNIissouri having many unfavorable conditions, none of 
which exist in Western Washington. Poultry here is not sul)ject to 
any disease and can be produced with great success and i)rofit. 

There are some crops, such as corn, lima beans and sweet po- 
tatoes, which, owing to the cool summer nights, do not mature, and 
cannot, therefore, be advantageously produced. I^)Ut all other cereals 
can be raised successfully and there is no soil or climate better 
adapted to the j^roduction of oats, hay, jjotatocs, vegetables and 
fruits. 'Florida is termed the land of fruits and flowers. It cer- 
tainly has no better claim to this title than her most distant sister 
State. 

All fruits that can be grown in the temperate zone here are 
produced with ease and in abundant quantities; peaches, prunes, 
a})})les, cherries, strawberries, pears and melons are especially fine 
and prolific. The prunes of Puget Sound district are equal in 
quality to those of Italy and find a ready market at e(|ual price 
with the best Italian. 

The most beautiful flowers, and especially the queen of them 
all, the rose, grows here most prolifically, even those varieties which 
can only be produced in the best conservatories of the Eastern 
States are here raised with ease and with but slight attention. The 
c[uantity of bloom . is sim})ly astonishing. The writer recently 
measured a rose freshly plucked from one of the Seattle gardens 
and found it to be 5^- inches in diameter, while specimens G and 7 
inches in diameter are known. 

In the production of hops Western Washington has become 
justly celebrated both as to quantity and quality produced. The 
average yield of the State for the past thirteen years has been a])out 
1700 pounds per acre, though many ranches are i)ro(lucing a much 
higher average. Mr. J. P. Stew^art, of Puyallup, for instance, states 
that the average yield on his place for the past thirteen years has been 
2111 pounds per acre. Several instances are known where thej'ield 



THE SOUND STATE. ■ it 



\V{is 3000 and as liitiii as 4000 j)()uii(ls pci' acre. Tiiu average price 
l)ai(l the grower duriiiu; the ah()ve-ineiiti<iiie(l pei-iod (exchisivo of 
tlie year 1S.S;3, wlien the niaxiinimi price paid was $1.10) has been 
IS cents per pound : the avera^'e cost of [)r()diictioii is !) cents ]>cr 
pound. The avera-c yield of the State is 40,000 l)ales of 200 
pounds each. In New York State tlie average yield of ho])s is (500 
|M)unds per acre ; in England and ( terniany, SOO pounds per acre. 
In Wiishington the cro[) is not subject to pests or disease, while in 
all other districts it is aft'octed to a, greater or l(>ss extent, 'i'lie crop 
of this State is grown chielly in King and Ti^'rce counties, though 
more or less are produced in Sk;igit, Lewis, Yakima, Walla Walla 
and other counties. The yield of ho})s is greater here than in any 
other ])rirt of the Vvorld. The business is a permanent and growing 
one. 

By far the most important })ortion of Washington is the region 
adjacent to Puget Sound. This body of water is in reality an in- 
land sea. It was discovered in 1592 by A})ostolus Valerianus, 
called Juan de Fuca, a Greek navigator, and the straits connecting 
the Sound with the Pacific ocean bears the nanu^ Ijy which he was 
known. 

Puget Sound extends from north to south entirel}' witlnn the 
State, parallel with and about 90 miles from the Pacific ocean. It 
has a surface area of 2000 square miles, and a shore line of over 1600 
miles. With its numerous bays, harbors and estuaries, it is one of 
the most beautiful sheets of water in the world. From the entrance 
of the straits to the extivnie southern end of the Sound there is an 
average de|)th of 70 fathoms, l)old waters to the shores, and not one 
hidden danger, rock, quicksand or shoal, and being land-locked 
severe storms are uidcnown u[)on it, therein' affording a direct, un- 
interru})ted and unsur[)assed highway for commerce to all ])orts of 
the world from a section of country })ossessing more natural ad- 
vantages and resources than any other ])art of the Union. 

The climate of this region is the most equable known, there l)eing 
no extremes of heat or cold and no severe droughts. Tins is chiefly 
due to the close proximity of the nnghty Pacific ocean and of the 
warm Japan current, keeping the temperature nearer uniform than in 
any otlier part of the Union. Government records show the highest 
temperature within the past ten years to have been 94 degrees and 
the lowest during the same time 3 degrees above zero. During the 
past twelve years the rainfixll, as recorded at Port Blakely (on the 
0])})Osite side of the Sound and nine miles from Seattle) by the official 
signal observer, has averaged 41.03 inches per year. During this 
time there were three years when no snow fell. The average fall of 
snow per year for the period was 17.6 inches. The mean tempera- 
ture for the past twelve years has been 53 degrees above zero. 



12 THE SOUND STATE. 



Liimljer-making has been tlie leading manufacture of Wash- 
ington in the })ast and will be the leading industry, doubtless, for 
many years to come. The outjnit from Puget Sound mills for the 
year^l<S89 aggregated 684,188,000 feet ; laths, 143,052,000 ; pickets, 
8,200,000. The total cut of shingles in the State for the year was 
900,000,000. While a large part of this output found a home mar- 
ket, that 'is, within the State of AVashington, east by rail to Chicago 
and points in Colorado, Montana, Dakota and other States, and by 
water to San Francisco and southern Pacific Coast points, a very 
consideral)le (quantity was shi})ped on orders to Soutli America, 
Mexico, Australia, Hawaiian Islands, China and England. 

Large as the present lumber trade is, it is but an indication of 
the future possibilities and, we may safely add, probabilities. 

It is possible to increase the trade almost indefinitely. Tliere 
is a ready demand for the output and it can practically be placed in 
every marked of the world. From 1850 to 1860 the entire cut of 
lumber in Washington did not average 60,000,000 feet per year; 
from I860 to 1870 the average was 175,000,000; from 1870 to 1880, 
250,000,000, and for the past ten years, 400,000,000. Upon this 
basis the total cut of lumber in Washington up to this year has 
been 8,350,000,000 feet. A reasonable estimate of standing timber 
in the State is 200,000,000,000 feet. There need, therefore, be no 
apprehension of an exhaustion of tiinber in tliis State for many 
years to come. 

Notwithstanding the immense value of the timber of Western 
Washington, it will, doubtless, be exceeded by the mineral wealth, 
which cannot be estimated, being as yet practically undeveloped. 
Coal, iron and limestone exist in almost unlimited quantities, while 
copper, galena and the precious metals tu'e found in paying quanti- 
ties over a large area and new discoveries of very rich deposits are 
of frequent occurrence. 

The coal measures of the Puget Sound basin consist of alter- 
nate beds of yellow and gray fine-grained sandstone and very fi-ne 
gray arenacious shales interstratified with many beds of carbona- 
ceous shale and coal. Mr. Willis in his report says: "Looking at 
the Puget Sound basin as a whole the coal measures extend from 
l)eyon(i the liritish boundary south almost to the Colund)ia, and 
from the Pacific ocean eastward up into the Cascade range to eleva- 
tions varying from 800 to 5000 feet above the sea. The coals of 
this district range in (juahty all the way from lignite, which still 
retains a woody structure, to antlu'acite. The magnificent forests 
so extensive on the western slope of the Cascades, with tlieir lux- 
urious and dense growth of vegetation, makes a formidable obstruc- 
tion to the development of and to the determination of the coal 
fields. Coal, however, is known to exist h'om tlie northern to the 



H 



THE SOUND STATE. 



soiitlicrii l)oiin(laiy lines of the State, through a l)eU ranging from 
10 to 30 miles in width. The general coal formation in the Htate 
is })laced much the same as that of the anthracite of Tennsylvania, 
with the sides of the basins dipping at all angles from 15 degrees 
to 90 degrees. The number of coal beds in the field is undeter- 
mined, but, judging from the great number of exposures and the 
varied character of the beds aiid rocks, it is large. Those already 
examined vary in thickness from 1 to 4i5 feet." 

Below will be found comparative analyses of Pennsylvania, 
Tennessee, Utah and Washington coals, as shown by reports of the 
De})artment of the Interior — United States Geological Survey: 



Coal. 


FIXED 
CARBON. 


VOIvATILE 
MATTER. 


ASH. 


E. C. 


WATER 


v. H. C. 




Ivawrence County, Pa- 

Coal Creek, Tenii 

Emery County, Utah 

A 

Washington - B 

,C 


55-50 
57-52 
47-65 
60.67 
60.38 
52.11 


40.65 
38.82 

39-75 
25.88 
29.09 
42.27 


3-15 

3-09 

6.05 

12.12 

9-37 
3.82 


2-35 
.20 
Not given 

2.34 
2.07 
3.S2 


Not given 
1.04 
6-55 
1-33 
1. 16 
1.80 



Coal from several different localities has been tested and found 
to j)roduce excellent coke. With only a few mines developed to 
any extent, and with a greater number of our most promising mines 
not sufficiently developed vet to be shi})})ing, there was an output 
during the year 1889 of f,000,000 tons, valued at $4,r)00,000. Of 
tbis amount King county produced 4oO,320 tons. Tlie output is 
increasing as rapidly as tlic capacity and number of mines will i)er- 
mit. The out])ut for 1890 will consideral)ly exceed that of the past 
vear. Shii)ments from the Gilman mine alone, operated by the 
Seattle Coal and Iron Company, have been 29,000 tons from Janu- 
ary 1st to June 1st. This mine is now producing over 350 tons per 
day, and as the shaft is extended the quality of coal im])roves. 
The total output of coal from Seattle from January 1st to June 1st, 
1890, was 201,180 tons. When it is borne in mind that with the 
exce[)tion of two very small mines in California, producing coal of 
an inferior qualit}^ and in quantity not sufficient to be taken into 
consideration, and an annual output of 40,000 tons of an inferior 
(piality from Oregon mines, tliere is no other State than Wash- 
ington on the Pacific ('oast possessing coal, the value and future of 
this branch of industry can be understood. 



THE SOUND STATE. 



15 



Next in prospective iinporlMiicc lo tlic ('(tnl nnd closely con- 
iiectei-l with it is the iron, of which tiiere iii-c live grades, three of 
them l\iiii;- within the Ik'ssenier hiiiits. Below will l)e found an 
analysis of some of the iron ores trihntarv to Seattle: 



METAI,I,IC 
IRON 


.SILICA. 


PHOSP. SULPHUR. 


A 

B 

C 


71.17 
67.17 
64.50 


1.30 
4.02 
6.03 


. -039 
.031 


.005 
.041 
.005 



The iron ore of this district has been thoroughly tested and 
is known to possess the re<piisite i)roperties for i)roducing the very 
best steel. Experts who have examined the dei)osits now ex})0sed 
state that the beds are inexhaustible. 

One powerful com})any has been incorporated for the })urpose 
of manufacturing iron and steel, and is now erecting extensive 
works at Kirkland, one of Seattle's suburbs. Of these works we 
have the following official statement from the com})any : " Kirkland, 
the site of the works of the Great Western Iron and Steel Company, 
is located on the eastern' shore of Lake Washington and is a])out 
live miles distant from Seattle. It is at ju'esent a scene of great ac- 
tivity and gives promise of becoming one of the most important 
manufacturing cities of the Pacific Coast. As has been said, it has 
been chosen as the location for tlie plant of tlie (Jreat Western Iron 
and Steel AVorks, an institution which has been organi/A'd to de- 
velop the mineral resources of Washington. The authoi'ized ca})ital 
of this com})any is $5,000,000, of which $1,000,000 has been paid 
in. Among its stockholders are (leneral Russell A. Alger, of De- 
troit ; J. jNIontgomery Sears, of I)oston ; H. A. Noble, of Des Moines ; 
I J on. J. S. Fassett, of Elmira ; Edward Blewitt, L. S. J. Hunt, Jacob 
Eurth, C. T. Tyler, Peter Kirk, W. W. Wilhams and l^ailey (uitzert. 
It is the purpose of the company, wliich controls the most extensive 
bodies of ore on the Pacific Coast, to erect at once blast furnaces and 
rolling mills which will give employment to more than .3000 men. 
The preliminary work with this oljject in view is well under way. 
Extensive purchases of material have been made, the ground is be- 
ing })repared for the erection of the buildings, and it is expected 
that the extensive plant will be in operation within eighteen months. 
The Northern Pacific is now building a branch to Kirkland, and 
this, with the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern, assures ample railroad 
facilities for the new works and the town which will surround them." 



i6 THE SOUND STATE. 



In close })r()ximity to the iron and coal clc])0.sit is found tlio 
finest of limestone for furnace use. Following is an analysis of 
crystallized limestone from King county: Silica, 0.81; oxide of 
lime and alumina, 1.85 ; carbonate of lime, 94.06 ; carb. magnesia, 
3.12; phosphorus, trace ; sulphur, . 

Flint fire clay and also very fine qualities of plastic clays are 
found in large quantities in the coal measures. One compan}^ with 
|1 00,000 capital, has just, completed an extensive plant at Seattle 
for the manufacture of terra cotta, fire brick and sewer pipe. 

Ma'rble of various kinds and grades has been discovered in 
the Cascade range. The writer was recently shown a fine sam})le of 
verd anti(iue, which is said to exist in considerable quantity, while 
the white, gray and black are abundant. 

Granite, syenite and several grades of sandstone exist in large 
c[uantities. 

The whole tide waters of Puget Sound, as well as the rivers of 
Washington, abound with food fishes. Everybody has known that 
in this section fish — halilnit, salmon, cod, smelt and other choice 
varieties — were i)lentiful in quantity and excellent in (piality, but 
nobody not engaged in the business has sup})Osed that it amounted 
to anything. But statistics show that our fisheries supply prolitahle 
employment to 3000 men, that |1, 000, 000 of capital is'enqjloyed in 
it and that the annual })roduct amounts to over |1,000,000. More- 
over, the excellence in quality and great quantity, have tem})ted 
schooners from far-off Massachusetts to engage in catching, drying 
and shipping halibut from tliese watei'S. All of which takes no ac- 
count of the rich oyster beds of Sho;d water bay, the most prolific 
on the Pacific Const. There is no reason why the 3000 men who have 
found profitable enq)loyment in these fisheries should not be in- 
creased by many multiples. 

The commerce of the State and especially of Puget Sound is 
expanding rapidly and surely. The great outside trade is thro\igii 
the Sound. Here come the teas of China, and Japan, the cement, 
iron, fire l)rick and manufactured goods of Great Britain ; the coffee, 
rice, si)ices, sugar, etc.; of Hawaii, Brazil, Manila, Central America 
and other foreign countries, to say nothing of the thousands of tons 
of American })roduction from New York, San Francisco and other 
seaports.. From here go lumber, coal, wheat, fish, etc., to the value 
of thirteen to fourteen million dollars per annum. Five sea-going 
vessels per day, 150 per month and ]800 per year, averaging 1000 
tons each, go from Puget Sound to foreign ports and coast points 
l)evond the State limits, and as many vessels enter the Sound. Tlie 
aniount of shi[)})ing in American bottoms is greater from Puget 
Sound than any port in the Cnion except New York, The United 



THE SOUND STATE. 



17 



States Board of Local Inspectors of Steam Vessels for the Puget 
Sound District, in their annual report for 1889, shows as follows: 

Total number of steamers inspected 194 

Gross amount of tonnage 20,672.18 

Number of passengers carried 892,000 




out 
I'ade a 



The nunihei- of passengers carried 
exceeds that of the previous year bj 
300,000. Below will be found the re- 
port of the Collector of tlie Customs 
District of Puget Sound showing the 
total tonnage of vessels officially enter- 
ing Puget Sound during the past year 
to have been 941,167 tons; of vessels 
clearing, 965,474 tons. And yet the 
tonnage, large as it is, shows less than 
two-thirds of the actual shii)ping pass- 
ul Puget Sound, many vessels l)eing engaged in 
nd not legally required to enter and clear: 



VEvSSELS ENTERED. 



June 

July 

August 

Sept. 

Oct. 

Nov. 

Dec. 

Jan. 

Feb. 

March 

April 

May 



1890 



> 



o2 



> 
III s 

S n 
n > 
o 2; 






w 



t/5 






TONS. NO. TONS. NO 



49-935 
60,816 

60,295 
52,260 
61,506 

56,043 
52,756 

62,119 
52,221 

60,797 

66,497 
79,987 



74 
88 
80 
72 
86 
64 
79 
79 
62 

75 
80 



12,272 

7,193 
2,428 

7,373 
7,507 
8,876 
3,681 
5,588 



3,828 
7,506 



TONS. NO 



9,483 
21,665 

25,471 
14.520 
23.900 
13,768 
17,250 
14,011 
14,009 
10,820 
18,449 
17,041 



17 
26 

23 
31 
19 
19 
16 

17 
16 

25 
26 



TONS. NO. 



1,485 
1,235 
2,603 
619 
1,380 
2,392 
1,839 

2,442 

628 
561 



t8 



THE SOUND STATE. 



VESSELS CLEARED. 



MONTHS. 



Tune 1889 
July 

August ' ' 
Sept. " 
Oct. 

Nov. " 
Dec. 

Jan. 1890' 
Feb. 

March " 
April " 
May " 



o « 



TONS. ! NO. 






t< 



o 

2 Vi 



TONS. 



s « 



1J 
O C 



TONS. NO 



55-503 
67,307 
65,072 
67,088 

64,359 
62,176 
65,900 
59,829 

59,045 
61,091 

77,405 
86,720 



80 
89 
91 
90 

84 
80 

j 80 

73 
68 

I 77 
I 96 
III 



9,616 
11,790 
9.338 
5,765 
7,866 
6,011 
11,779 
5,184 
2,495 
4,831 
2,709 
6,868 



16 

II 
6 

II 
7 

15 
7 
3 
3 
4 

II 



8,384 
10,158 
16,538 
10,717 
17,928 

12,373 
12,648 

9,349 

9,975 

13,193 

13,156 

13,685 



10 

14 
18 

13 
20 

14 
18 
II 
12 
16 
16 
19 



TONS. Tsro 



12,351 



The total value of exports from the Puget Sound Customs Dis- 
trict for May, according to the report just completed at the Customs 
House, was $307,781. This is an increase of $63,000 over the ex- 
ports of the month of April. Of the exports, goods to the value of 
$124,104 were carried in American bottoms, and to the value of 
$183,777 in foreign bottoms. The destination of exports and their 
value is as follows : 



Ireland |i36,82l 

British Columbia 88,561 

China 34,273 

Chili 20,951 

British Possessions 13,226 

Hawaii _-, 8,597 

Mexico 5,352 

Total 1307,781 



The following statement, kindly furnished by the Collector of 
the District, shows the business of Puget Sound District as com- 
pared with Boston, New York, San Francisco and New Orleans : 



33 



£ c rt o 






Sis 






ccgo 

05 05 




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865,373 
408,268 
480,060 


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SEATTLE. 




T ESS til an forty years ago 
the site of the present City 



■ The 
of 20 



present i ity 
of Seattle was a wilderness 
more wild and lonely than any sec- 
tion of the country now within the 
i)Oundaries of this Union. To-day it is the 
nietropohs of Washington; the Queen City of 
the Northwest ; the most progressive and i-apidly 
growing city in the West, Its location is most ad- 
vantageous, situated near the middle and on the eastern 
shore of that grand arm of the Pacific, Puget Sound, it 
is the natural centre toward wdiicli gravitates the trade and 
'commerce of the State, aiid especially that portion lying 
between the Cascade and Olympic ranges, 
harljor of Seattle is unsurpassed, liaving a surface area 
S(|uare miles, affording good and safe anchorage for 
an immense number of vessels. The water front extends for 
six miles. A^'.'-sels an(-horing within one-half mile of the shore in 
this harbor will find the maximum depth of water 15 fathoms. 
The wharfage facilities of Seattle are ample and excellent, there be- 
ing over a mile of ivJiarf frontage, 42.'35 feet of which has been con- 
structed since the fire. 

Seattle was first settled April 3, 1852, by A. A. Denny, I). T. 
Denny, W. N. Bell and C. D. Boren, who first located at Alki Point, 
November 13, 1851, but the harborage not proving good there they 
commenced exploring the Sound and adjacent country for a more 
advantageous location for the sup})l3'ing and i)roper handling of 
piling and lumber. After careful inspection of the timber and 
sounding the harbor, they decided upon the present site, and lo- 
cated on the date- above mentioned, naming the new place after 
tlieir Indian friend Seattle, chief of the Suquampsh and allied 
tribes. Mr. H. L. Yesler, of Ohio, arrived in October, 1852. His 
coming was an important event, as he established the first steam 
saw mill on the Sound. 



22 



SEA TTLE. 



Seattle harbor was first surveyed in '1841 by Captain Cliarles 
Willies, of the United States exploring expedition sent out under 
President Tyler's administration. In Captain Wilkes' report occurs 
the now well-known and famous verdict concerning Puget Sound : 
" I venture nothing in saying that no country in the world possesses 
waters equal to these. From the mouth of tlie straits to the head 
of navigation, 200 miles inland, not a shoal nor reef nor hidden 
danger exists. At times it narrows to a river's width and ag;iin 
widens into the majesty of a sea, but is everywhere free to naviga- 
tion, the home of all craft ; blue deep and fathomless." 




Puget Sound scenery, especially that adjacent to Seattle, is ma- 
jestically grand. From natural elevations in various parts of the 
city is seen, to the west and beyond the calm blue waters of tlie 
Sound, the dark and snow-capped Olympics, while to the east one 
first notices Lake Washington, a beaisitiful sheet of fresh water, 
which lies parallel with the Sound and from 2 to 10 miles from it, 
but 19 feet higher than the waters of the Sound at mean tide (thus 
affording, when put to use, an immense water power). Lake Wash- 



SEA TTLE. 



ington is 22 miles in Icii^tli by an average of tlirec miles in width 
and of an immense de])tli, soundings showing 100 fathoms in })laees. 
The water is clear and cold, being fed by s[)rings and mountain 
streams. Be^'ond and extending north and south as far as the eye 
can reach is the mighty Cascade range, with Mt. Baker to the north 
and Mt. Rainier to the"^ south, the former 10,814, the latter 14,444 
feet in heighi, capi)e(l witli ])erpelual snow. Still to tlie east of Lake 
Washington and parallel with it is Lake Samamish, about one-half 
the size of Lake Washington. Tliese two lakes ai'e connected by 
the Samamish river. In the northern part of the city and between 
Lake Washington and tiie bay lies Lake Union. All three of these 
lakes are connected with the Sound by a small canal which it is in- 
tended in the near future to enlarge, making a ship canal, thus 
affording an unexcelled fresh water harbor for ocean vessels. The 
feasalnlity of this undertaking has been successfully demonstrated. 
The General Government will, doubtless, when the matter is properly 
presented, recognize the national advaiitage of such an enterprise, 
especially in the solution of the problem of the best location for a 
large navy yard. 

\\\ 1870, Seattle was in population the fourth town in the Ter- 
ritory ; in 1875, the third ; in 1880, the second, in 1883 and since 
the first. The following table will forcibly illustrate its remarkable 
growth : 



United States 

Territorial 

United States 
Territorial — 

Territorial 

Directory 

City 

Territorial 

City 



YEAR. 


POPUr^ATION 


'1870 


1,107 


1875 


1,512 


1880 


3,533 


1883 


6,645 


1885 


9,786 


• 1887 


12,167 


1888 


19,116 


1889 


26.740 


1S9O 


43.467 



The United States census is now being taken, but we have no 
means of determining witli accuracy the present po])ulation. When 
the city census was taken in May there were 4o,4G7 residents 
in the city. Since that time a large number of laboring men, esti- 




Central School. 




DEN>fy School. 



SEA TTLE. 



25 



mated at over 3000, have by reason of the rapid railroad construc- 
tion, mining industries, etc., been taken from this city. X conserva- 
tive estimate of our TixcmI population will, however, be upwards 
of 40,000. 

The school census is taken ainuially. Its showings are most 
oratifying. The number of childri'n of school age reported each 
vear since 1877 is as follows : 



1877 

187S 

1879 

18S0 

1881 

1882--I 

188.V— — - 



1,171 

1,257 

1,341 
1,462 
1,580 

1,877 
2,675 



1884 2,826 

1885 — 2,901 

1886 3,069 

1887 3,594 

1888 — 5,809 

1889 9,248 

1S90 11,156 



Seattle is a city of intelligence and culture. Its educational 
organization is as complete; as that of any city in the Tniou. It is 
the seat of the Washington State University, an institution of higher 
education wdiicli will compare favorably with the universities of the 
older States. Its public school system is a model one. There are 
now seven large public school buildings. They are modern in style 
of architecture and complete in all their appointments — built to en- 
dure for generations. Four additional school buildings, each to cost 
$25,000, are now being constructed and will soon l)e com[)leted. 
Seattle is also the seat of an excellent female seminary, which is 
conducted under the auspices of the Catholic Church. 

The number of children in actual attendance at the })ublic 
schools, as per Superintendent Kennedy's report for the month of 
April, 1890, was 4,502. 

The amount of public land set apart for school purposes in the 
State of AVashington is 2,824,400 acres, divided as follow^s : 

For Public Schools 2,488,320 

For State University 46,080 

For Agricultural Colleges 90,000 

For Scientific Schools 100,000 

For State Normal Schools 100,000 

There are 43 church societies in Seattle, and we venture to say 
the various houses of worship are Ijetter attended than in any city 
of its size in the West. The various denominations are represented 
as follows ; 




vSouTH School. 




Providence Hospital. 



SEA TTIJi 



27 



DENOMINATION. 



NO. OK 
CHURCHES. 



Baptist 7 

rresbyteri.'in 7 

Methodist 6 

Coiigregatioiialist ^^ - 4 

Methodist Protestant 3 

Lutheran 3 

Episcopal 3 

Catholic 2 



DENOMINATION. 



NO. OF 
CHURCHES. 



Free Methodist i 

Unitarian i 

Refc)rnie<l Prcs1)3terian i 

Christian — i 

(jernian Reform I 

German Evani^elical - 1 

vSwcdish Christian Mission i 

Hebrew i 



Total 43 



THE FIRE. 

One year ago Soattle passed throiigli a fiery ordeal whieli an 
ordinary city would never have recovered from. The liusiness dis- 
trict, covering an area of sixty-four acres, was left in ruins and 
])roperty valued upwards of ten millions of dollars were destroyed. 
Of the fire we quote from the Pod-Intelligencer of June 7, 1889 : 

" The story which is told this morning needs no elaboration. 
•Our whole business and commercial district, the very heart and 
center of the city, upwards of fifty blocks of business buildings is 
this morning a glowing heap of ashes. But a single important 
business building, the Boston block, is left standing. Every bank, 
every wdiolesale house, every hotel, every newspaper office and 
nearly every store has been swei)toutof existence. Pro|)erty which 
yesterday morning rei)resented upwards of ten millions of dollars 
has been utterly destroyed. The facts speak for themselves. In the 
presence of such a calamity it would be useless to multiply phrases. 
No other American city ever suffered a loss proportionately great. 
But great as is this calamity there is good fortune in the fiict that it 
is attended with comparatively little personal distress. The resi- 
dence district remains practically untoucluid, and even those wliose 
money losses are terrible are comfortal)ly lioused in their accus- 
tomed homes. It is another fortunate fact that the heaviest losses 
will fall u[)on those best able to sup])ort them and to re])lace the 
l)roi)erty which has been destroyed. On the part of tliose who 
might be called poor there is scarcely any direct loss, and the indirect 
losses will not seriously affect them. While Seattle has received a 
terriljle blow, there is not the slightest danger that it will be a fatal 
one. Obstacles, as is well known, have heretofore served only to 



28 SEA TTLE. 



stimulate our people to new and greater efforts, and the spirit which 
lias heretofore sustained the city has not deserted her in this hour 
of calamity. Not one of the business establishments which is home- 
less this morning will be more than tem])orarily embarrassed by the 
misfortune that has fallen upon us. While the flames are yet active, 
and while the embers are still glowing, preparations are making for 
re-establishing every line and department of our business. Our city 
will be rebuilt at once, and we have assurance from many sources 
upon a })lan much more liberal and extensive than formerly. The 
relationship of trade and commerce between Seattle and the country 
at large will not be broken, nor even seriously disturbed. 

" We believe that it will be comparatively but a short time un- 
til the immediate loss which has befallen us will prove to be indi- 
rectly a great and permanent blessing. From the ruins of Seattle 
there will spring a new Seattle, just as from the ruins of Chicago 
there sprang a new and mightier Chicago." 

Of the recovery of Seattle from this great loss and of her im- 
provement since that time we quote as follows : " In presenting a 
record of the general work of reconstruction accomplished witliin 
the district in this city swept by fire on the 6th of last June — one 
year ago. It should be understood that tliis record is limited to the 
l)urnt district only. Of the many scores of business buildings and 
the many hundreds of dwellings built outside of the burnt area in 
the city at large no reckoning is made. It is proper to say that if 
the record were^made to include the whole construction in the city 
of Seattle for the past twelve months the figures would have to be 
multiplied many times. The fire wi})ed out of existence practically 
tlie wliole business district of the city. The four main business 
streets, with their intersecting streets, and the whole city front were 
swept clean. Not a building remained standing upon the sixty- 
five blocks which formed the center, the very heart of the city. It 
is too much, perhaps, to say that this area was swept clean. The 
debris left by the fire covered the whole area, making a chaos more 
difficult to reduce to order than if the site had been in its original 
state of savage wilderness. The work of clearing away the wreck- 
age was prodigious, alone costing many scores of thousands of dol- 
lars. At the beginning of the work of restoration there was the 
most serious embarrassment due to the fact that there were neither 
railway depots nor docks for the landing of building materials. It 
was full six weeks before arrangements were perfected whereby 
brick, stone, iron, timber and the thousand and one materials of 
construction could be received in any considerable quantities. 

" Only })ersons acquainted with the local situation and the con- 
fused conditions, in the sense referred to, will understand or appre- 
ciate this. But before materials could be received the work of 



SEATTLE. 2g 

cleariiio; away building sites was well in hand, and iVoiii tlicii until 
now tliere has been no cessation of construelion work cxceitt that 
due to shortage of material supply. Tlic ])rices of brick, ce- 
ment, etc., have been nearly double the ordinary prices during 
much of the time since the fire, at times it has been difficult to se- 
cure mechanics of sullicieut number, or having the skill rcMpnsite 
for particular work. 

"But in s})ite of all eud)arassments th(^ consti'uction lias 
been something marvelous. Nothing like it has been witnessed on 
the American continent, except in the singk; instance of Chicago 
during the time immediately succeeding the great tire of 1871. 
Within the year lot) Iniildings have been constructed of brick, stone 
and iron, ranging in lieight from three to eight stories, with a total 
frontage of upwards of one and one-half miles. Upon the construc- 
tion of these buildings $4,593,900 has been expended, and when all 
now well under way are completed their total cost will reach the 
sum of $6,682,700. Within the same time there have been con- 
structed in the l)urnt district 335 frame and corrugated iron build- 
ings at a cost of $1,266,400. There have been constructed 60 
wharves with a frontage of more than tw^o miles, with coal bunkers, 
warehouses, etc., with street improvements, etc., at a total cost of 
$1,287,448. The total number of bricks used in this prodigious 
work of construction is $69,425,000. The use of stone and iron 
has been proportionate to the use of brick. Of lumber there has 
been used a total of 86,310,000 feet. The total cost of all this ma- 
terial, with the labor of construction, makes a grand total of $7,147,- 
798. This, it must be noticed, is the sum already expended. At 
least $3,000,000 more will be re(iuired to complete l)uildings now 
in process of construction, and upon which work is being diligently 
pursued. 

It will be seen that within one year there lias been accom- 
plished within the limits of the l)urnt district a general building 
construction nearly matcliingthe total loss of tho great fire, includ- 
ing both the buildings and the merchandise destroyed. 

There is no sort of comparison in point of quality and general 
character of the buildings distroyed and those which have taken 
their places. In the stead of low wooden ranges, unsightly, cramped 
in space, and much exposed to the danger of fire, we have massive 
blocks of brick, stone and iron, constructed upon the best models of 
modern architectural science. It is a fact frequently noted that in 
their general character the new buildings of Seattle sur|)ass the con- 
struction of any other city on the Pacific Coast. The Butler Block, 
the Haller building, the Harrisburg building, the Safe Deposit 
building, the Burke building, the Pioneer building, the building of 
the Wasliington Territory Investment ronq)any, and many others 



30 SEA TTLE. 



which might be named, would be noticed for their size and for the 
sohdity and beauty of their construction in any city of the United 
States. 

It should not be inferred that there is any cessation of building- 
enterprise. Almost daily work of construction is begun on some 
new building, and it is now evident that the construction of the year 
to come will very nearly equal if indeed it does not excel the con- 
struction of the year past. 

Work has commenced on an opera house to cost $250,000. 

In the burnt district since the fire the following streets have 
been raised to grade, making nearly three miles 0/ road constructed 
on timber or filled in in that district alone: In Jackson street^ from 
Sixth to West, 2490 feet; Main, from Fifth to West, 2184; Washing- 
ton from Third to West, 1560; Yesler Avenue, South Second to 
West, 1248; South Third, Wasliington to Jackson, 480; South Sec- 
ond, Yesler Avenue to Jackson, 720 ; Commercial, Yesler to Jack- 
son, 720 ; West street. Union to Jackson, 8880 ; Columbia, Front to 
West, 312 ; Cherry street, 312 ; James, 312 ; University, 800. Total, 
14,524." 

The construction of wharves and warehouses is a just indica- 
tion of the growth of Seattle and its shi})i)ing since the fire. Seattle 
now possesses wharves having an aggregate area of 922.950 square 
feet or 21.11 acres. These wharves have a direct water frontage of 
4435 feet, 4235 feet of which has been constructed during the past 
year. There have also been erected 28 warehouses, which with the 
three not destroyed by fire have a floor area of 158,800 square 
feet. 

As a natural commercial center Seattle is recognized as having 
no equal on the Pacific Coast. Its harljor is superior to that of San 
Francisco and infinitely better than that of Portland. There being- 
no impediments, vessels of the heaviest draught are able at all times 
to come directly to the wharves. There is no waiting for high tides 
in order to pass bar^ or obstructions, or for winds. Consequently 
vessels are not obliged to lighten or to be towed, thus saving both 
time and expense. 

The wholesale business of Seattle is but in its infancy notwith- 
standing the fact that it exceeded $13,000,000 last year despite the 
interruption from fire. The trade of Seattle merchants extends not 
only over tlie State, but to Alaska, which most naturally looks to 
this, the nearest city of importance in the Union, as its base of 
supply. 

As to tlie possible and profitable field of trade in the near fu- 
ture more than passing notice should be given that of the Orient, 
with its millions of population. The trade of China, which is now 
to a large extent controlled by Great Britain, is estimated at $130,- 



^EA TTIJL 3t 



000,000 annually. Trade witii this vast empire was but recently 
established and it is but fair to i)resunie that within a few years it 
will double and treble, while to the north of China are other coun- 
tries with whom trade relations should exist. So soon as the preju- 
dices are' overcome, as they are being gradually but surely, there 
will be o})ened to American commei'ce an avenue of trade rivaling 
that of Great l^ntain, now so envied. As to the question who are 
to handle this vast trade we quote from Professor Ruffner's rei)ort 
on Washington, in which he says : " No one nation exclusively, of 
course. The Dutch and otlier small powers will have a little of it ; 
but the only contest will be between England and the American Pa- 
cific Coast. England has the lion's share now, but this great nation 
will hereafter labor under too many disadvantages in its contest 
with America. America has the needful capital, material, })luck 
and energy, and enjoys certain decisive advantages, as, for example : 

" First — In distance, which would of itself decide the matter. 

" Second — In the local production of certain staple articles which 
will be in great demand, and which England cannot sui)ply so 
cheaply, such as lumber, meats, flour, canned goods, cheap cottons 
and agricultural and other machinery ; which, if not cheaper, can 
be more readily adapted to the wants of the market. 

" Third — In possessing the back country of Eastern America, 
whereby the entire United States becomes tributary both ways to 
the Pacific commerce ; to which may be added 

" Fourth — The ever-flowing river in the Pacific ocean, flowing in 
a circle from Japan to the American coast and back — the famous 
Kuro Shiwo, or Japanese current — a current which gives a gain to 
every ship of twenty miles a day in distance ; the current which 
brings the disabled Japanese junks to the American coast. 

" The half-way point on the Pacific side between America and 
England is the Malay peninsula. This leaves even Australia and 
all of Oceanica nearer to us than to England, and all of China, 
Japan and Sil^eria thousands of miles nearer to us. Hongkong and 
Canton are the English headquarters in China, and yet our Pacific 
Coast is 5000 miles nearer to these than England is. It is also 
6500 miles nearer to Shanghai, which is a more important port than 
Canton, because of its greater nearness to the rice and tea producing 
sections. The advantages are still greater in respect to Pekin, Japan, 
Vladivostook, the terminus of the projected Russian railwa}', and' 
the entire country drained by the Amoor. Our commerce is now 
within thirty days of the coast of China, and will be within less 
than ten days when the last mail and express and passenger steamers 
are launched. I insert a table of distances, which is full of signifi- 
cance : 



32 



SEA TTLE. 



Seattle to mouth of Amoor river 3,900 miles 

" to Vladivostock 4,700 " 

" to Shanghai 5,75o " 

" to Canton 6,500 " 

" to Singapore 8,100 " 

" to SW. point of Australia 9>55o " 

San Francisco to Vladivostock 5,200 " 

" to Shanghai 6,100 " 

" to Canton 6,800 " 

" to Singapore _ 8,400 " 

" to SW. point of Australia 9.500 " 

" to Calcutta 10,200 " 

Liverpool to mouth of Amoor river i3,55o " 

" to Vladivostock 12,700 " 

" to Shanghai ii,75o " 

" to Canton 10,900 " 

" to vSW. point of Australia-^ 10,750 " 

" to Singapore 9,300 " 

" to Calcutta 8,700 " 

Liverpool and Puget Sound are about equally dis- 
tant from the west coast of the Malay peninsula. 

New York to Canton via Puget Sound 9,500 " 

" to Shanghai via " " 8,000 " 

"By this it will be seen that New York by way of Puget Sound 
is 1,400 miles nearer to Canton than Liverpool is, and nearly 4,000 
miles nearer to Shanghai. It should also be noted that Puget 
Sound has the advantage of distance over San Francisco."- 

. The present trade with Ja][)an is in a thriving and prosperous 
condition. The interchange of comoditics is increasing and the 
future prospects are certainly bright. 

The total amount of local freight received at and forw^arded 
from Seattle during the year ending June 6, 1890, was 1,178,742 
tons. Of this amount 48,920 tons was iron. 

The average shipments of freight from Seattle by water, as per 
Wharf Master's records, is 35,000 tons per month ; the average 
receipts, 20,000 tons. 




34 



SEA TTLE. 



Of the ocean trade the following table shows the ocean vessel 
entries from January 1st, to June 1st, 1890, and the tons of freight 
handled by them to and from Seattle proper : • 



OCEAN VESSEL ENTRIES. 



1S90. 



SAII, VES- 
SELS. 



OCEAN 
STEAMERS. 



TOTAL. 



TONS OF MDSE. 

TO AND FROM 

SEATTLE. 



TONS. I NO. 



TONS. NO. TONS. REC'D. 



January _ 
February 
March-- - 

April 

May 

Total 



10,962 

6,329 

11,316 ; 18 

12,197 I 21 

15 I 13,3" ' 30 

56 I 54,115 ; 87 



20,466 ! 17 31,428 11,600 1 27,250 

23,271 17 29,600 10,975 27,300 

20,321 30 31.637 11,970 34.600 

22,599 : 34 34,796 15,956 31,600 

29,193145 42,504 13,375; 21,125 



115,860 



143 I 169,965 i 63,876 1 141,875 



It is estimated that there are 100 steam vessels of all classes 
landing at and departing from Seattle daily. These vessels represent 
an agregate capacity of 12,000 tons. 



MANUFACTURE. 

It is a well recognized fact; so well recognized as to have 
become the central principle of all stable and progressive nationali- 
ties, that manufacturing is the mainstay of progress and prosper- 
ity. So firmly has this idea become fixed and so universally has 
the princi})le received recognition, that in nearly every country the 
practice of protecting manulacturers is a fixed policy. 

And whatever differences may exist as to the protection of home 
against foreign agricultural products or raw materials, is almost 
exclusively due to a fear that such protection might lessen or injur- 
iously interfere with the protection given to manufacturing. 

The production of raw materials is mainly or in large part a 
work of nature, due to soil, climate and other natural conditions, 
and to but a limited extent affords employment to human beings. 
But manufacturing implies labor, skill and ingenuity in every stage 
of its progress, and whereas great and })rosperous farming sections 
may be sparcely settled and but slightly tilled a great manufactur- 



SEA TTLE. 35 



ino; center must of neeeseity become populous, a swarming liive of 
industry, cliaracterized by large concentrations of Avealtli, tlu^ most 
profitabK' market for iiome products, a liberal dis})enser of benefits 
to tliose engaged in and to tliose dependant upon it, and also to 
all contiguous })roj)erties and lines of business. 

Iron, coal and timber are the three cliief elements in the con- 
stitution of great manufacturing centers, and Avdien these are easily 
accessible to good harbors and convenient waterways, every require- 
ment is fultilled. But when these advantages are supplemented by 
practically unlimited waterpower, the combination becomes irresist- 
ible and it requires no gift of prophecy to foresee a ])rilliant future 
for the locality thus favored. 

These are the advantages possessed by Seattle beyond compar- 
ison with any city in the world, and the statistics published else- 
where show that her advantages have been recognized, and that the 
enterprises thus far inaugurated have attained to vigorous condi- 
tions. And the principle acted upon by nearly all civilized gov- 
ernments, to the enormous betterment of the condition of their peo- 
])le, should be taken to heart by the property -holding and busi- 
ness classes of this city. 

The output of her saw and planing mills foots up two hundred 
and forty million feet, valued at $2,266,000; her brickyards turned 
out one hundred and thirty-seven million brick, valued at $1,644,- 
500; she has iron works worth $810,000, whose output for the year 
amounted to $617,600; in carriage and wagon manufacture there is 
$46,200 of capital invested, with an out})ut of $81,000, employing 
fifty men at an average wage of $;3 per day; shi})building has been 
active; the plaining mills separate from the lumbering concerns 
have turned out work to the amount of $1,518,000; in the butcher- 
ing business $200,000 of capital is employed, with a payroll of 
$71,175 per annum and an output valued at $1,145,813.60; in roof- 
ing $77,000 of capital is invested, and their output for the year w^as 
$208,400; in artificial stone and cement (as yet in its infancy) the 
output is estimated at $50,000; in sixteen establishments engaged in 
cigar manufactiire sixty-one men are employed and turnout 4,680,- 
000 cigars per annum, valued at $187,200 and apa3'-roll of $86,720; 
in soap manufacture $30,000 ca})ital is invested and the output was 
$50,000; in tanneries $20,000 capital and $107,000 output; in tent, 
sail and awning making $5,000 capital and $26,000 output; in har- 
ness and saddles $30,00 capital and $50,000 output ; in candy facto- 
ries $(K),000 ca})ital and $68,000 outjait; in furniture (barely begun) 
$124,000 output; in shingles $216,000 output; bakeries enq^loy 350 
persons and turn out $3()5,()00 of product; marble works, capital 
$30,000, outiHit $40,000, employing 20 hands at $3.50 per day; 
mattresses, $53,000 ca})ital and $126,000 output; box factory 



SEA TTLE. 37 

employs 30 men at 1-3.50 per day, and in seven montlis turned out 
|50,000 worth of work, consuniini;- 700,000 feet of lumber; in broom 
manufacture $8,000 invested, 14 hands employed, payroll $7,400, 
outi)ut (),000 dozen, valued at $1S,000; oil clothing, out]Hit $5,000, 
caj)ital $(),0()0; drugs, output $'20S,000; overalls, capital $2,500. out- 
put $2,475; crackers, capital $30,000, ])ut])ut $75,000; spices, just 
started with a capital of $10,000; })icture frames and window 
shades, out[)ut $54,000; sausage factory, output, four months, 
$4,800; breweries, output $315,000; brass foundry, outi)ut $7,200. 

A large elevator and grain Avarehouse with ca}>acity of (500,000 
busliels is now being erected at West Seattle and will be completed 
in time to handle the wheat crop this fall. It is the intention to 
do a large export business. 

Seattle, thanks to the energy of her citizens, manufacturers 
largely, but still enough has not been done in that direction. Now 
that wheat is to be shipped from this port three or four large flour- 
ing mills will be needed to grind the Mdieat into flour for consump- 
tion in Seattle and other cities on the Sound, as well as in Alaska, 
British Columbia and China. There is a great opportunity for the 
flouring mill industry in this city. Several tanneries could be estab- 
lished to advantage here, and it would not hurt to have two or three 
more salmon canneries. There are hundreds of manufacturins: 
enterprises that could be entered into here with advantage. It is the 
leading city on the Sound, and here can be found the greatest ad- 
vantages for the location of factories, because a splendid home mar- 
ket is already provided. 

There are some branches of the wholesale trade not yet fully 
re})resented. \\i? would especially call attention to the excellent 
opj)ortunities for wholesale dry goods, boot and shoe and paint and 
oil houses. 

BANKS. 

Of all the industries doubtless the one wliich furnishes the 
most reliable indication of commercial activity is the banking bus- 
iness. 

The amount of money deposited in the banks of Seattle has 
increased by $2,235,812 since last May. In Mav, 1889, it was $4,- 
118,033; on or about June 1, 1890, it was $6,353,845. Notwith- 
standing all the large amounts of money sent away there is a clean 
gain of 50 per cent in one year. Enthusiasm may paint in glow- 
ing colors the growth and bright future of a community ; self-inter- 
est may hopefully exaggerate the advantages of the present and the 
promises held out of greater prosperity, but the banks tell a cold- 
blooded, unimpassioned tale of hard, actual cash, counted dollar by 
dollar. 



SEA TTLE. 



Crowds congregate, men use bad judgment sometimes in build- 
ing costly edifices, booms stir the blood; but the man who liolds the 
money bag does not get excited. Tliere is no romance about the 
statement that the total resources of the banks in the city amount 
to $8,631,227. If to this be added the Bank of British Columbia, 
which has a branch establislied in Seattle, the entire capital repre- 
sented would be 11,631,227, but as no figures can be obtained by 
which the local business can be determined, it cannot bo included 
in a definate shape. 

In order to appreciate the financial condition of the city and 
its marvelous recuperation, but a few comparative tacts need be 
given. A fire is not like a fina;icial or commercial cataclysm. It 
comes suddenly and the condition of a city a few days before it 
'happens — so ftir as the disaster is concerned — may be taken as 
normal. The end of May, 1889, therefore, is a good time with 
which to make comparisons. On the day of the anniversary of the 
fire the business of the city was so far promising that the Bank of 
Nortli Seattle had just been incorporated and the Washington Nation- 
al Bank was preparing for business, its date being July 1, 1889. For 
a few months after the fire several million of dollars poured into the 
city. The insurance companies prom})tly paid their risks and East- 
ern capitalists hastened to seek investment. The record of real 
estate transfers affords only incomplete testimony because a consid- 
erable portion of the purcliase price was in many cases left unpaid. 
What was paid was put into buildings by those who sold. The value 
of buildings erected since June 6th last, is shown by the permits 
granted to be over $8,000,000. Of this, probably one third is bor- 
rowed, the remainder being investment of money realized from sales 
of land. No loan of any magnitude was made at a higher rate than 
8 per cent., to run for five years, and where buildings are complete 
they are fully occupied at a rental ranging from 12 to 18 per cent. 
It is within the mark to say that $500,000 is lying in the banks be- 
longing to Eastern capitalists, awaiting opportunity for investment. 
The tempting advancement in real estate values and the demand 
for houses at high rental has induced many merchants, and almost 
anybody else, to put at least a portion of their capital into land. 
It is this which makes the condition of the banks, under the circum- 
stances, seem so remarkable. 



'. #,. 







SEA TTLE. 



39 



Tlie folic iwino; eonij^arisoii of the anioiint of deposits at tlie sev- 
eral banks in May last and on or about Juno, 1st of this year, speaks 
for itself. 



Puget Sound 

Dexter Horton & Co 

F^irst National — 

Bank of Commerce 

Merchants' National 

Guarantee Loan and Trust- 
North Seattle 

Washington National 

Boston National 

Washington Savings 

Seattle National Bank 

Bank of British Columbia. - 
Total 



DEPOSITS. 



% 798,432 

1,885,693 

720,000 

62,000 

539,795 
112,113 



1890 



DEPOSITS. 



I 4,118,033 



1,099,715 
2,066,518 
889,666 
185,000 
564,434 
232,596 
203,158 

229,977 
432,828 
204,006 

245,947 
*I00,000 



I 6,453,845 



RESOURCES. 

% 1,411,547 
2,370,170 

1,212,200 
230,000 
852,122 
373,568 
266,124 
368,598 
787,857 
264,591 
494,450 

3,000,000 



111,631,227 



*Estimated. 

Not only have five new banks opened within a year but some 
of the old banks have either enlarged their capital stock or added 
surplus to their working resources. The new banks are the Bank 
of North Seattle, AVashington National, Boston National, Washing- 
ton Savings Bank, Seattle National Bank, and a branch of the Bank 
of British Columbia. 

The Seattle National Bank has increased its capital from |125,- 



000 to $200,000; its cash reserve from $98,463 to $232,402. 

The Puget Sound National IJank has added to its surplus l)y 
$20,000 and its undivided profits $20,018. 

Dexter Horton & Co. have added to their surplus by $50,000. 
Since Mav 1, 1889, Bank of North Seattle has added profits of 
$11,489. 

The First National Bank has a surplus fund of $50,000 and un- 
divided profits amounting to $75.70. 



SEA TTLE. 41 

■ 1 — — ■ ■ 

The Washington National Bank reports within its first year a 
net profit of |9,922. 

The Merchant's' National reported on June 6, 1S89, a sui'plus 
of |5,000, now it is $20,000; they had then undivided profits 
amounting to |29,252; on May 17, 1890, they had 145,040. 

The Boston National Bank ()j)ened its doors November 11, 1889. 
On Mav 17, 1890, its sur[)lus and un(hvided profits amounted to 
$4,082.^ 

The Washington Savings Bank has increased its sur})lus and 
undivided profits to $10,584. 

The Guarantee Loan and Trust Companv has increased its 
capital from $50,000 to $120,000, and its undu-idcd profits have 
reached $11,217 notwithstanding exceptional expenses. 

The record cannot be paralleled anywhere. Tt must l)e borne 
in mind that very heavy expenses havS had to be incurred l)y every 
Bank this year. All the pro})erty of the old Banks was destro^'ed, 
and business has been conducte<l under the most inconvenient cir- 
cumstances. 

The clearing house was not establislied in Seattle until Au- 
gust 26, 1889. At the end of the first week tlie statement showed 
a total of $610,031; for the third week in May, 1890, it was $1,130,- 
297, an increase of $520,266. Tlie great amount of fall business and 
the activity in real estate in November brought the figures up as 
high as $1,549,504, but with the exception of one or two weeks, 
when the natural fluctuations of the season's trade are apparent, the 
gain has been steady. 

Investment is eagerly sought at as low as 7 per cent.; but a 
considerable business is done by local brokers and syndicate agents, 
wlio borrowed money in the East at 7 and even 6 per cent., and re- 
invested it at 9 and 10 per cent. Short loans are placed at 1 per 
cent, a month. 

Besides the usual real estate mortgages and commercial paper 
transactions large sums of money have been placed in local enter- 
prises. Money is waiting to be loaned on the city water bonds at 
five per cent., the grain elevator has attracted capital, projected cable 
and electric lines find capital easy to command; new steamers on 
the Sound, the Great Northern Railroad, and the transcontinental 
road have brought money into the city which does not enter into 
any of the compilations made in this article, and the advent of the 
Union Pacific will set thousands of dollars of foreign capital flowing 
into the local avenues of trade. 

A subject so prolific of fascinating deductions cannot be 
enhaustecl within narrow limits, and only sufficient data are given to 
afford suggestive calculations for business ,men dealing in undorned 
statements of incontrovertible facts. 



^2 



SEA TTLE. 



"In June, 1889, the taxable property of the city was $16,000,- 
000, now it is |'2(j,000,000. That is a very considerable increase of 
value within one year. But what is even more significant is that in 
1889 the total amount of mortgages on real estate was $2,500,000 
or so, this year we have no more than $3,000,000 or a fraction less, 
although the additional buildings are probably worth $8,000,000. 
This is evidence that the large amount of building has been at the 
expense of property owners and not on borrowed money. Owners 
of land have sold a portion and used the money to put up struct- 
ures." 

"This fact alone dissi})ates any fear that there can be serious 
depression. The foreign capital l)rouglit into the city and of which 
so much has been said has gone directly into investment and not in 
the shape of loans. This Ras greatly stimulated business in the 
city, and if any reaction comes it will be a natural consequence of 
the ebb and flow of trade, and not due to any run upon property or 
foreclosure of mortgages. 

"The banking capital of the city has grown from $700,000 
about June, 1889, to its present proportions of $1,500,000. Depos- 
its in all the l)anks amounted in 1889 to $3,000,000, now tliey are 
fully $6,000,000. 

The Seattle C'learing house was established August 26, 1889. 
The exchanges since that time by months has been as follows: 



August, 1889 - 
September, " 
October, " 
November, " 
December, " 



I 425,980.86 
2,463,558.77 
5,914,843-38 
4,406,855.61 
3,368,240.23 



January, 1890-- 
February, " 
March, " 

April, " 

May, " 



--1:4,212,522.26 
— 3,362,850.17 
-- 4,331,406.34 
-- 4,734,043.08 
-- 4,786,286.13 



The increase of business in the Seattle Postoffice will also indi- 
cate the growth of businesss of the city. The gross receipts from 
box rents, an<l sales of stamps, envelopes, postal cards and wrappers 
for the })ast three years was follows: 

July I, 1887, to July I, 188S 126,890.96 

July I, 1888, to July I, 1889 46,962.51 

July I, 18S9, to July I, 1890 -■ 77,828.45 

Capital is proverbially cautious, and where heavy concentra- 
tions of it are noticeable it is safe to assume that there are assur- 



SEA TTLE. 



i3 



allocs that security is good and future ])i"OSi)ect.s |>i()iiiisiii^. 'Hie 
formation of ()()H incorj)orated companies in Wasliiii^lon within the 
})ast year, with a ca})ital of $220,012, 21Jo, s})eaks volumes ior the 
estimation in which tlie State is lield l)y tlie moneyed chisses. Of 
the ahove amount eighty-live milhon is represented in Seattle cor- 
porations. 

The United States Land Ollice in Seattle did a greater business 
in 1889 than any other land office in the country. A niillion and a 
([uarter acres were dis})oscd of. The following stateiiujnts show 
the business done from Januarv 1st to June loth, 1890: 



CHARACTER OF ENTRY. 


NO. ENTRIES 

1532 

731 

i6i6 

lO 

54 

2 

488 
1080 


AREA 
EMBRACED. 


Original homesteads 

Final homesteads 

Pre-emption declarator}^ statements __ 

Soldier declaratory statem ents 

Coal land declaratory statements 

Miningf claims 


200, 190.05 

112,637.48 

258,560.00 

1,600.00 

8,640.00 


Timber land final proofs 

Pre-emption cash proofs 


65,117.41 


Commuted homesteads . _ _ 


440 65,492.22 
14 2,056.54 


Coal cash entries 




Totals 


Kof)"! ' S6n /\nR t-> 






7>t 



Total Acreage on which final proof has l)cen made and final 
receipts issued therefor, 401,418.07. Total cash, $758,121.02. 

RAILROADS. 



Washington is acquiring a railroad system of great magni- 
tude and national importance, of which Seattle is being made the 
principal terminus. Owing to its remoteness from the great centers 
of population and w'calth, and to the consequent slowness of its 
earlier development, but little progress was made in railroad build- 
ing until recent years. In 1870, there were but five miles of rail- 
road in the State. On the l.st of January, 1890, there were 1717 
miles, of which 398 were built during the year 1889. It is esti- 
mated that 800 miles of road will be constructed this year, which 
will make the mileage January 1st next 2517. 

As in ancient days all roads led to Rome, so at the present 
time all railroads in the Nortlnvest lead to Seattle. The Seattle, 
Lake Shore & Eastern, Northern Pacific and Columbia & Puget 



SEA TTLE. 45 



Sound roads are tlie tliree now doing regular freiglit and passen- 
ger business in Seattle. The Great Northern has been granted 
facilities and will make this its western terminus. Work on this 
road is being pushed to completion as rapidly as possible. The 
Union Pacific has also been granted a franchise, will make Seattle 
its chief Sound terminus and is pushing work on its line from both 
Portland and Seattle ends. Work on the Fairluiven & Soutliern 
and on the northern extension of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern 
is progressing rapidly. Botli of these lines will make connection 
with the Canadian Pacific tliis year, so that within a short time 
Seattle will have four great transcontinental roads, and very likely 
five, as it is believed the Southern Pacific will not long remain with- 
out direct rail communication with this city. 

In the matter of street railways Seattle is without a peer among 
cities of her size in the Union. Horse power was abolished some 
years since and more modern, humane and rapid systems substi- 
tuted. The street car lines of Seattle are cable and electric. Diverg- 
ing from a common point near the business center, they radiate to 
all parts of the city. There are now in operation 16 miles of cable 
and 21| miles of electric roads; in process of construction or under 
contract : cable, 4 miles ; electric, 24 miles ; steam motor, 4 miles. 



The real estate transfers in Seattle for 1889 amounted to $15,- 
055,794. The transfers from January 1st to June 1st, 1890, amount 
to $9,722,033.58. 

Seattle is well supplied with light, both gas and electricity be- 
ing used. 

Three telegrapli companies are represented here — the Western 
Union, Pacific Postal, and Puget Sound Cable companies. 

The present indebtedness of Seattle is about |300,000. As- 
sessed valuation of real estate and personal property, 1889, $16,- 
016,900; tax rate, 12 mills. Total value of real estate and i)ersonal 
propertv, $55,000,000. Total tax rate — State, County, City and 
School for 1889—29 mills. 

\a\ one respect Seattle surpasses all other cities of her class, 
that is in the matter of newspapers. She has four dailies that 
would do credit to any city of 100,000 inhabitants. In the order 
of their age they are the Post- Intelligencer, the Times, the Press and 
the Journal, the first and last-named being morning and the other 
two evening papers. The regular daily edition of each is eight 
pages, while every week several twelve and sixteen page papers are 
issued, and on special occasions immense papers of twenty to thirty- 
two pages. Their news service is complete, while mechanically and 
editorially they are unexcelled. Connected with each of the dailies 



4.6 SEATTLE. 



is a mammoth, first-class, clean weekly, and in addition to these are 
a number of other fine weeklies, including the Budget, illustrated 
and of twelve pages ; the Observer, illustrated and of twent}^- 
four pages ; the Sunday Star, the Leader and papers printed in foreign 
languages. There are also the WasJdngton Churchman and the 
Washington 3Iagazine of monthly issue and a number of clean pub- 
lications devoted to hotels, railroads and like interests. The warm- 
est feelings are entertained by citizens of Seattle towards their 
newspapers, the patronage bestowed upon them being exceedingly 
generous and fully deserved. 

The Seattle Chamber of Commerce was incorporated March 3d, 
1890, with a capital stock of $30,000. Membership limited to 300; 
each member required to be the owner of one share of stock. Every 
sliare of stock has been issued and tliere being many applications 
for admission the advisability of increasing the membershij^ is now 
being considered The Chamber occupies a very fine building and 
grounds on tlie corner of Third and Marion streets which it has fitted 
u}) in elegant style since the first of April, and now has quarters sec- 
ond to none in the west. The work of the Cliamber is devoted to 
pul)lic interests of Seattle and vicinity and has been of special serv- 
ice in securing the extension to and location of railroads in the city. 
In ofiering inducements for the development of mines and demon- 
strating the great mineral wealth of our State; by setting apart a 
room in its building for the display of specimens from each mine de- 
siring representation; also, procuring at its own expense an assay by 
the State (Geologist of all ores sent by mine owners. The Cham- 
ber will also place on exhibition samples of the agricultural, horti- 
cultura] and timber resources, as well as of the manufactures of this 
sectioii. 



AVERAGE YIEIvD OF CROPS IN WASHINGTON. 

Wheat 25 bushels per acre. 

Oats 55 " " " 

Barley 27 " " " 

Rye 27 " " " 

Potatoes 125 " " " 

Hops 1700 pounds " " 

RESUME OF SEATTI.E STATISTICS. 

Population, May census 43,467 

Average death rate 7 in every 1,000 

Buildings erected last year 3,465 

Property assessment (1889) 116,078,685 

Property assessment, estimated (1890) $26,000,000 

(Above figures are based on 40 per cent of actual valuation.) 



^8 



SEA TTLE. 



Real estate transactions (1889) •ifi5,o55,794 

Real estate transactions (5 months, 1890) $9,722,033 

L,ocal freight tonnage 1,179,000 

Docks, area (acres) 21. 11 

Dock warehouses, area (square feet) 158,800 

"Water frontage, (miles) 6 

Capital invested in manufactures I7, 000,000 

Value of output |i2,ooo,ooo 

Miles of street railway in operation _ 37^ 

Miles of street railway under construction 32 

Lumber output, 1889 (feet) . 170,099,000 

Coal output, 1889 (tons) 450,320 

Brick output, 1889 . - -.. 40,000,000 

Iron industry, value |826,42o 

Salmon canneries, output, 1889 (cases) -25,000 

Wholesale trade, exclusive of lumber _ |i7, 700,000 

Pviblic schools : 11 

State University i 

School children registered 4, 502 

Average attendance 3,102 

Clu;rclies 43 

Membership 8,285 

Highest temperature in ten years 94° above zero 

Lowest temperature in ten years 3° above zero 




'"^^MiJl^J.K.H^^^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



} 



017 167 686 



